Comparative radiosensitivity of Medfly cells and embryos.

This research is dealing with the effect of 6O Co gamma radiation on cultured "In vitro" cells and on embryos at different developmental stages, of Ceratitis capitata Wiedemann. The parameters ana1yzed for both the cells and the embryos were growrh, survival and mortality rates. The immediate and late effects of irradiation were also studied at the level of egg hatching, larval life cycle, emergence of adults and their fertility. A particular result that became evident in the cormparison of the radiosensitivity was that the ceIls "in vitro" had a greater radioresistance than the very young embryos by a factor of 3, but the ceIls had less resistance by a factor of 8.5 when compared with the developed embryos. In general, with an increase in dose there was an increase in damage; even at 1200 rad a prolonged arrest was found in the growth of the cell population, and with 2400 rad it was found in the developmenr of 24 h old embryos. Confronting embryos of different ages, it was noted that the same quantitative effect was obtained with doses proportional to the age of the embryos: the same mortality effect in 30 min old embryos irradiated with 300 rad as in those 24 h old treated with 4800 rad was observed. The results obtained are presented and discussed.Peer reviewe

INFLUENZA DELL'ACCOPPIAMENTO SULLA RECETTIVITÀ SESSUALE E SULL'OVIDEPOSIZIONE IN FEMMINE DI CERATITIS CAPITATA WIEDEMANN

INFLUENCE OF MATING ON THE SEXUAL RECEPTIVITY AND OVIPOSITION IN FEMALE Ceratitis capitata WIEDEMANN The extstmg knowledge, especially concerning the Dipterae, of the effects of mating and the causes of sexual receptivity and the increase in oviposition has been reviewed. After a description of the male sexual organs, experiments were carried out on adults of Ceratitis capitata Wield. using various technique, such as castration of the males, removal of the spermatheca in the females, transplant of the accessory glands and other parts of the male sexual organs to females and of the spermatheca of females after mating.The study of the sexual receptivity and fertility of females mated with norma! or castrateci males, or of females which underwent a transplant of organs or remava! of the spermathecae, has permitted a complex series of stimuli to be detected. These stimuli are essentially due to the excretion of the male accessory glands and less to the presence of sperms in the spermatechae and they determine the monogamic tendency and the increase in oviposition of the species.Sono passate in rassegna le conoscenze esistenti, in particolare per i Ditteri, sugli ef- fetti dell'accoppiamento e sulle cause determinanti recettività sessuale e incremento di ovideposizione. Dopo esame e descrizione dell'apparato riproduttore maschile, sono riferiti i risultati di esperienze condotte su adulti di Ceratitis capitata Wied. mediante tecniche diverse, quali la castrazione dei maschi, l'asportazione delle spermateche nelle femmine, il trapianto in femmine di ghiandole accessorie ed altre parti dell'apparato genitale maschile e di spermateche di femmine .precedentemente unite a maschi. Lo studio della recettività sessuale e della fecondità in femmine accoppiatesi con maschi normali o castrati e di femmine che avevano subito trapianti di organi o asporta- zione delle ·spermateche, ha consentito di rilevare una serie complessa di · stimoli dovu ti all'azione essenziale del secreto delle ghiandole accessorie maschili, nonché alla presenza o meno degli spermi nelle spermateche, nel determinare la tendenza alla monogamia e l'aumento dell'ovideposizione nella specie.

Anti-multiple myeloma potential of secondary metabolites from Hibiscus sabdariffa

Multiple myeloma (MM) belongs to hematological cancers and its incidence is increasing worldwide. Despite recent advances in its therapy, MM still causes many deaths every year. In fact, current therapies sometimes fail and are associated with severe adverse eects, including neurotoxicity. As a part of our ongoing efforts to discover new potential therapies against MM, we prepared Hibiscus sabdariffa extracts obtained by a microwave-assisted solvent extraction and investigate their activity by in vitro assays on the RPMI-8226 cell line. The bioguided fractionation of the crude ethanolic extract allowed the identification of HsFC as the most effective extract. We assessed cell viability (MTT and Tripan blue test), cell migration (Boyden chamber assay), and neurotoxicity (DRG neurotoxicity assay). The promising results prompted us to further fractionate HsFC and we obtained two molecules effective against RPMI-8226 cells without neurotoxic effects at their active concentrations. Moreover, both compounds are able to significantly reduce cell migration

Effects of lipopolysaccharide and juvenile hormone III treatments on cell growth and gene expression in the Ceratitis capitata (Diptera: Tephritidae) CCE/CC128 cell line

The Mediterranean fruit fly Ceratitis capitata is one of the most important insect pest species in the world. It has a high colonization capacity and population variety, giving it considerable genetic diversity. Strategies for its control have included the sterile insect technique and insect growth regulators. Many studies have analyzed the medfly transcriptome, and along with the medfly genome sequence, the sequences of multiple genes related to sex determination, mating, development, pheromone detection, immunity, or stress have been identified. In this study, the medfly CCE/CC128 cell line was used to assess cell growth variation and changes in the expression of genes covering different functions, after lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and juvenile hormone III (JHIII) treatments. No significant effects on cell growth and gene expression were observed in the cells treated with LPS. In the cells treated with JHIII, the results showed significant effects on cell growth, and an overexpression was found of the Shade gene, one of the Halloween gene members of the cytochrome p450 family, which is involved in development and the synthesis of 20-hydroxyecdysone. This study shows preliminary results on the insect cell line in combination with whole-genome sequencing, which can facilitate studies regarding growth, toxicity, immunity, and transcriptome regulations as a response to different compounds and environmental alterations